


Your Favorite Truth

by LightningHope



Series: Batfam Valentine's [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Damian Wayne is Robin, Dick Grayson is Robin, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 11:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17806973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LightningHope/pseuds/LightningHope
Summary: Time travel is not part of Damian's regular schedule. It's alright, Richard's there, even if his Robin suit is an atrocity.





	Your Favorite Truth

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Friday fic for the Batfam Valentine's Weekend Challenge! Today's prompt was Time Travel, and I picked Damian & Dick.

“Batman?” Damian said into his communicator. Static. “ _Batman_ . Nightwing. Red Hood. Black Bat. Batgirl. _Oracle_. Red Robin?” No one answered. The static continued to hiss.

Scowling, Damian turned the comm down, but refused to take it off. If Gordon got them up and running soon, Damian didn’t want to be out of the loop. And she would, Gordon was many things, and incompetent was not among them. Grumbling under his breath, Damian started exploring around the area. An abandoned apartment complex, probably close to or in the East side. About where he started, then. Teleportation? The building looked to be home to the normal squatters and transients. Grappling to the roof, Damian looked around, unease building in his stomach as he realized he didn’t recognize the skyline. There were all these different buildings and while many were the same, many were not.

Two pairs of feet landed with near-silence behind him. Irrational relief filled Damian, Father had found him.

“Batman,” Damian said in relief, twisting around and flinching. The second pair of steps had been… Robin. Absolute silence reigned as Damian struggled to control his emotions, pushing down the ugly fear and hatred bubbling up as he saw a new boy at his father’s side.

Which. Wait. _That_ was Richard’s old uniform, awful leotard and all. And his father’s uniform was much less armored than it should be. Much more in line with the first generation of Batman suits.

“So, are you a fan of cosplay?” The maybe-Richard Robin said, his face twisting into a smirk that Damian had never seen. “If you’re going for Robin, you’re not doing a very good job.”

And then, because he was nothing if not his father’s son, Damian turned and bolted away from his emotions.

He didn't get far. This Gotham was relatively unknown to him, and so were its safehouses. While panic had lent him an edge of fear and speed, he also had no idea where to go. When Richard tackled him, skidding them across the roof, it was almost a relief.

Sitting in the Cave Damian scowled at the restraints, but stayed in the chair because he had learned _some_ manners. And there was no point making Richard upset. Especially when Richard already looked upset, his movements jerky and closed-off. Was it because he was Robin? Damian knew that he’d been upset with Bruce for handing it off to Jason, but it was always implied that Dick just found it another thing to be upset about with Bruce about.

The t-shirt and workout sweats were too big and too thin when just sitting, but Damian wouldn’t complain. He’d survived worse. Besides, he’d been allowed to keep the domino.

Batman approached, backlit by the monitors and weak lighting. For the first time, it actually scared Damian. This Bruce had no idea who he was, and Damian had no one to vouch for him. In his hands, he had a forensic cotton swab and a blood draw kit.

“No,” Damian protested at once. Bruce hesitated, then set the items aside.

“Look, unless you want to tell me all about yourself while hooked up to a polygraph, I need you to allow this.”

“Polygraphs are easy to cheat,” Damian pointed out, “not to mention you don’t _need_ to do a DNA test. That won’t tell you where I’m from or how I got here.”

“They _could_ ,” Father insisted, in such a childish act of petulance that Damian blinked. _His_ father didn’t do that. His father just stared you down until you relented. Maybe it came from having so many children.

“Could not.”

Father sighed. “Robin, could you come over here a minute?” Richard dropped down from where he was badly pretending he wasn’t listening.

“Can you help explain why I need to do a cheek swab and blood draw?” he asked, voice modulating to something smooth and mentor-like. Trying to reassure Damian. Damian rolled his eyes. Robin’s eyes also rolled, though Damian could only infer. After all, Richard had his domino on as well.

“Can you tell Father that it’s not going to help explain why I’m Robin?” Damian retorted, and immediately realized his slip. Both had frozen, Father shocked, Richard shocked… and upset. Immediately guilty, Damian opened his mouth to, what, explain? Apologize? When Richard gave a too-bright smile.

“Guess you don’t need to!” And he bounded away before either of them could stop him. Bruce turned to look at him, and Damian scowled fiercely.

“Make it quick,” Damian told his father, who only scowled at him. Bruce asked him no questions, just did the swab and drew blood. Neither did he ask anything after starting an analysis. The silence in the Cave continued to get more and more leaden.

Hesitant, Damian knocked on Richard’s door some time later. Richard was always worst in his initial anger, and Damian would get absolutely nothing accomplished by chasing after him.

“Richard?”

“What?” It was technically a question, but only just. Still quite angry then.

“Might I come in?” Damian asked. It was an alien feeling. At this point, Damian felt no compunction in just barging in to Richard’s rooms whenever he felt like it. Such was the relationship between them.

“... I guess,” Richard said, and Damian slipped in. It was a bright room, despite the lack of sunlight, brimming with the personality of its occupant.

Clearing his throat, Damian delicately sat on the bed next to Richard. “You made me Robin,” he started, carefully watching Richard tense up further. The rapid blinking.

“In whatever timeline or universe I came from, you were much older than me,” Damian explained hastily. “You told me that I could be a hero, as Robin. I didn’t have to be what I was raised to be.” Damian swallowed.

“Did I really give you Robin?” Richard asked quietly, still staring at his hands in his lap. “ _Why_ did I give you Robin? Robin is _mine_ , my mom's name, my family's colors.”

“Father was, he. Mother delivered me to him a few years ago. Soon after, we thought he died. You took over as Batman, you made me your Robin, you said I could be _good_ , that we were partners,” Damian explained in a rush, reeling at the realization. Of course Robin had to come from  _somewhere_ , and the original uniform  _did_ look like an acrobat's costume. He'd be having words with his Richard, he vowed. Damian hated being left out of the loop.

“I was Batman?” Richard asked, lifting his head, eyes red-rimmed.

“Yes. And you were the best. Everyone liked you. The force, the League, your Titans. Everyone thought you were perhaps even better than Father.”

“Hmm, I think I can approve of this,” Richard said at last, shoulders slumping. “But you’re gonna have to tell me more just so I can be certain.”

“I think I can do that,” Damian agreed, shifting so their shoulders brushed together.


End file.
